There were many things I thought about mere minutes before "The Walking Dead" began. Like, isn't the "Two and a Half Men" theme song really weird? And isn't it strange that "Two and a Half Men" is right before "The Vampire Diaries" (at least where I watch it)? And did Nina and Ian really break up?! But when the episode opened with Elena back in vampire-slaying mode and Stefan as teacher/coach/whatever, I kind of forgot about these other things. Because, this just seemed weird!

After "giving Stefan 50" (pull-ups, that is. What did you think it was?), Stefan tried to get her to stop obsessing about killing Katherine—to no avail. "Maybe I just want to feel the warmth of her chest cavity," Elena responded. What a one-track mind that Elena has. Yes, she turned on her emotions, but she's still not fully back. What will bring her back? How about breaking on through to the other side? Literally! Bonnie dropped the veil so she could contact Qetsiyah to figure out how to immobilize Silas. Here are the highlights:

1. As you know, Bonnie recruited Katherine to help her with the spell to drop the veil. Katherine had the tombstone with the calcified blood of Qetsiyah. She told Silas she’d drop the veil during the full moon (witches always need a source of power to do huge spells, and "The Vampire Diaries" always needs a full moon for a pre-hiatus episode), but Katherine pointed out that the tombstone of the powerful witch who cast the spell to create the other side would be enough. So Bonnie linked herself to Katherine so that Silas couldn’t get inside Katherine’s head. Except, he probably could’ve. We learned that Bonnie hadn’t mastered his manipulation—Silas just wanted her to think that. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. How many of you want to watch a show where Bonnie and Katherine are connected all the time? (Hands up!) And how many of you were terrified that some crazy shenanigans were going to go on (i.e. Elena accidentally killing Bonnie because of her mission to kill Katherine)?

2. Well, it’s funny you should think that, because that’s almost exactly what happened! Bonnie used the expression triangle to drop the veil, and she had to do the spell right in the center. This part confused me, because the center seems to have been a huge cave directly under the school. Elena finally found Katherine—and a bizarre doppelganger fight ensued! Talk about blaming someone else for everything wrong in your life. The whole Elena-blaming-Katherine-thing is really a great visualization; she’s wrongfully blaming someone else who happens to be her mirror image, hinting that she should be facing inward to find the culprit. Anyway, Stefan stepped in just in time—he had seen Bonnie bleeding and gasping, so he realized that Bonnie and Katherine were linked. After Katherine ran off with a “thanks for the save, handsome," Elena didn’t believe Stefan. He told her that all her rage was making her crazy, and it was the first correct thing he’s said all season. Elena handled this accusation like a pro: She punched him.

3. Right before Bonnie dropped the veil, Sheriff Forbes called Damon and Stefan into the hospital. Five victims were almost entirely drained of blood, and Liz wanted to know if it was Silas. Either that, or what Damon said: "a doctor with a very questionable bedside manner." Anyway, we were in a hospital and Meredith Fell was nowhere to be found, but that was okay, I guess. What’s not okay? WHAT IS SILAS? THE SHOWRUNNERS ARE TREATING HIM LIKE HE’S A VAMPIRE, WHICH WE KNOW HE’S NOT. We know he was a man-witch before he became immortal, which means he’s still that. But his powers, like mind control, have only been shown to us as a vampire power. Additionally, he feeds on blood. Can somebody please explain to me why this witch can feed on blood? It goes against nature to be a vampire and a witch; we all know that. So what the heck is Silas?

4. When Bonnie dropped the veil, a crazy windstorm ensued. At the Grill, Caroline called her mom to see if she knew what was going on. Then she teamed up with Stefan to help look for Bonnie and Katherine. Except, unbeknownst to us, she stayed trapped in the Grill, compelled to cut her wrists over and over again by Silas. Again, another vampire power. GET YOUR MYSTICAL CREATURES STRAIGHT, PEOPLE, AND EXPLAIN WHAT SILAS IS. Guess the Caroline who’s been hanging with Stefan was SILAS all along!

5. Because the veil was dropped, we got to see some of our favorite dead supernatural people! They could only chill within the confines of the expression triangle, but that was cool. Kol showed up, which really excited me, except he was only there to exact revenge on Elena, because Jeremy killed him. And like, I found myself, when Elena was close to death at Kol’s hands, wishing: PLEASE LET HER DIE! I just feel like it’s unreal how many times she’s skirted death, you know? But, of course, she’s alive. JEREMY saved her, with a crossbow and a biting wit: “How many times do I need to kill you?” he asked Kol. And then Stefan snapped Kol’s neck. Kol must be a pretty lame Original if our heroes can always take him. (Just saying.)

6. Oh, and ALARIC came back as well! This was tricky, because I was never really sure if he was Silas or not. Neither was Damon, until he pointed out their secret booze stash in Locker 42. Um, has this ever been mentioned before? I think not. Anyway, it was all heartwarming to see Ric and such. Damon asked if he had nothing better to do, and it’s true—he doesn’t, because "Cult" was quite unfairly cancelled. I hope this means that Alaric’s gonna come hang in Mystic Falls all the time. Other visitors? Lexi! She murmured about a romance with Caroline and Stefan, and who knows? Caroline may be his new Lexi, but it seems like they may be leading up to more.

7. Oh, and Alexander (don’t you want to call him Aleksander, with the whole old-world feel?) arrived. With some more modern members of The Five, Vaughn and Connor. They were zeroing in on Rebekah at the end of the hour. That is going to be one awkward confrontation for Bex.

8. Since expression is a manifestation of your will, Grams told Bonnie that she could do anything—even immobilize Silas. Which she did. He turned to stone, and Damon and Alaric buried him. Except, now we may never get to see who he truly was!

9. But before Alaric buried Silas, he stole the cure from his pocket. And gave it to Damon to get the girl. Game changer.

10. After seeing Elena with Jeremy, Bonnie decided she had to bring him back, again. Er, didn’t we go over this a year ago? Bad idea. And it was, indeed, a bad idea. Because Bonnie used so much power attempting this spell that she killed herself. Yep. Grams was there, talking to ghost Bonnie, looking at the ground of dead body Bonnie. So Bonnie’s dead. Is this for real? I guess we’ll find out...

Next week’s the season finale, and it’s going to be EPIC (the previews say so.) What’s going to happen? Who’s going to take the cure? Elena? Silas? Rebekah? Damon? (How crazy would that be?) Will The Five succeed in killing Silas? How harsh was Elena to Rebekah? Will Rebekah finally get to be with Matt? What’s going to happen to make her go to New Orleans? (‘Cause we all know she’s spinning off.) Is Bonnie really dead? Did she somehow find a way to bring Jeremy back? What about Alaric? Let’s chat about it on Twitter or in the comments!